13. Unlucky for some.

14052012

Another study involving violent video games that has come across my screen in previous days was under taken at the turn of the century by Douglas Gentile and Craig Anderson. Now this may seem a bit out dated given the development of gaming devices in that time, but surprisingly, it is still relevant, and here is why.

It was found that boys play video games for an average of 13 hours a week. The hours that girls participated in were slightly lower, but these were primary and high school children that were being tested. This is when children do the bulk of their learning, and not just because of the school they are going to, but because this is when personalities are developed. Due to the fact that young children are still learning at this stage of their lives, they are less likely to challenge the authority of others around them, particularly adults. This doesn’t come till later in life.

This survey found that 89% of video games tested contained some degree of violence. 89%. This basically means that anyone who has a child with a gaming consol has a child with a violent video game.

Now let’s break that down a bit further. A primary or high school student is a school for 6 hours a day. Take away 8 hours for sleep. Don’t forget to subtract time for preparing for, travelling to and from school, and time for dinner and homework, and what seemed a reasonably small 2 hours of play each day, quickly becomes a lot. And given that there is an 89% percent chance that they’re playing a violent game, and undoubtedly not challenging the game and its morals, it can quickly become clear as to why the government has bought in new restrictions on video games. Or is it? Because new classifications have been placed on video games, those have previously been banned, will now be allowed on shelves, and who knows when a burnt copy may end up in the wrong hands?